German fish fast food chain Nordsee put up for sale - sources

FRANKFURT, Oct 12 (Reuters) - German fish fast food chain Nordsee has been put up for sale in potential deal worth more than 300 million euros ($336 million) deal, people close to the deal said.

Owner families Mueller and Kamps have tasked investment banking boutique GCA Altium with organising the transaction they said, adding that first information packages have already been sent out to prospective buyers.

Nordsee last year posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 30 million euros on sales of 350 million euros. It's EBITDA is expected to remain flat this year.

Peers such as McDonald's, Yum! or Wendys trade at 12-13 times their expected core earnings.

Nordsee is likely to fetch a valuation of more than 300 million euros or more than 10 times its expected core earnings, one of the people said.

"A lot will depend on how much refurbishment costs will weigh on cash flows," the source added.

Altium and Mueller declined to comment, while Kamps was not immediately available to comment.

Nordsee is expected to catch the eye of private equity groups with plans for an international rollout of the restaurant chain, as well as some industry peers.

The company already has a private equity history as it was owned by Apax from 1997 until bakery entrepreneur Heiner Kamps bought it in 2005. Kamps later sold a stake on to dairy entrepreneur Theo Mueller.

Nordsee was founded 120 years ago as a fishery group in Bremen and in the early 20th century expanded into fish processing and a retail network. It opened its first fast food restaurant in 1965, and today serves almost 20 million customers at its 373 outlets. ($1 = 0.8928 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Harro ten Wolde)